We talked to Pitt OC Shawn Watson today, and he made a comparison on Kenny Pickett that has drawn a few times before:
Teddy Bridgewater
The New York Jets QB who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft played for Watson when he was the OC at Louisville from 2011-13. Bridgewater is easily the most accomplished QB Watson has coached, but Watson hasn't hesitated to drop his name when talking about Pickett. Here's what he said today:
Pickett and Narduzzi have both said that Kenny has been pretty perfect in terms of not throwing any picks this camp. Have you ever seen that from a quarterback, that level of ball security, especially at his age?
Watson: I have. Teddy Bridgewater. Same type of production, same type of ball security. He’s like Teddy in that respect a lot.
Is he processing the reads so quick that it’s all falling into place for him?
Watson: It’s in his blood now, you know? It’s in his DNA. He’s gotten a lot of reps at it. He works really hard off the field at it. And my experience has been that when a guy works that hard, their level of play goes up, because it really does become instinctual as opposed to, “I have to process and if this happens, I have to do this.” I mean, Teddy’s doing - excuse me, my man Kenny is doing everything like that: he’s just reacting to football.
You’ve made that comparison between Kenny and Teddy before in the spring and maybe even last year; what else do you see that links those guys?
Watson: Where Kenny is like Teddy is in his work ethic. He has natural football instincts. He’s a natural passer. And he’s able to absorb a lot of information. He gets situational football. He’s a sponge that way. You can tell that he’s put a lot of thought and time into it, besides playing. Playing gives you an edge with repetition, but I think you have to think about it a lot, and I know both of these young men’s example to me has been, they think about it all the time. The situational management, like two-minute, like nickel downs, red zone throwing, I mean, all of the little things that are critical to winning football at the quarterback position, they think about it, where a lot of dudes don’t think about it. They’re thinking about the pass game.
Kenny, like Teddy, he knows the protections. He can get up there and put on a clinic. It’s a lot of hard work and I think he really loves it. I know he does. And you see it come out in him instinctually.
Teddy Bridgewater
The New York Jets QB who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft played for Watson when he was the OC at Louisville from 2011-13. Bridgewater is easily the most accomplished QB Watson has coached, but Watson hasn't hesitated to drop his name when talking about Pickett. Here's what he said today:
Pickett and Narduzzi have both said that Kenny has been pretty perfect in terms of not throwing any picks this camp. Have you ever seen that from a quarterback, that level of ball security, especially at his age?
Watson: I have. Teddy Bridgewater. Same type of production, same type of ball security. He’s like Teddy in that respect a lot.
Is he processing the reads so quick that it’s all falling into place for him?
Watson: It’s in his blood now, you know? It’s in his DNA. He’s gotten a lot of reps at it. He works really hard off the field at it. And my experience has been that when a guy works that hard, their level of play goes up, because it really does become instinctual as opposed to, “I have to process and if this happens, I have to do this.” I mean, Teddy’s doing - excuse me, my man Kenny is doing everything like that: he’s just reacting to football.
You’ve made that comparison between Kenny and Teddy before in the spring and maybe even last year; what else do you see that links those guys?
Watson: Where Kenny is like Teddy is in his work ethic. He has natural football instincts. He’s a natural passer. And he’s able to absorb a lot of information. He gets situational football. He’s a sponge that way. You can tell that he’s put a lot of thought and time into it, besides playing. Playing gives you an edge with repetition, but I think you have to think about it a lot, and I know both of these young men’s example to me has been, they think about it all the time. The situational management, like two-minute, like nickel downs, red zone throwing, I mean, all of the little things that are critical to winning football at the quarterback position, they think about it, where a lot of dudes don’t think about it. They’re thinking about the pass game.
Kenny, like Teddy, he knows the protections. He can get up there and put on a clinic. It’s a lot of hard work and I think he really loves it. I know he does. And you see it come out in him instinctually.
